AXA to Buy Mony for $1.5 Billion,
Bolstering Its Presence in the U.S.

France's AXA SA, already one of the world's largest financial-services groups, agreed to buy Mony Group Inc. for $1.5 billion in a move that will further bolster its growing U.S. presence.

The deal comes as New York-based Mony Group, a big life insurer with roots that stretch back to 1842, and which also owns brokerage firm Advest, appears to be recovering from a rough patch in which it had been hurt by losses in the brokerage and...